Alien Crossfire
by Murr-Quan Lord 2
Summary: Part Two of the Cocytan Trilogy. Shadow the cat strikes a deal with the powerful Cocytans to remove Sonic once and for all, and Slasher is abducted as described in A Tale of Origins. WARNING for quite a bit of nongraphic violence! A sequel to Sonic: Epi
1. Parts 1-2

Alien Crossfire

by Jared Spurbeck, Murr-Quan Lord #2

LEGAL NOTICE: Sonic and related characters are copyrighted by Sega or Archie comics. The Cocytans as a race are presumably copyrighted by Lucasarts, while all specific Cocytan characters featured in this work are copyrighted by Jared Spurbeck, as are Shadow and Tachyon. Slasher is copyrighted by K. M. Hollar. Have you hugged a Penguin today? These guys probably haven't.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is intended to take place in the NetRaptor Sonic universe, three years after Sonic the Hedgehog: Episode One and two years before Sonic 3 and Knuckles.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The title is derived from the computer game expansion pack "Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire", by Firaxis. Several concepts and storyline elements are also derived from it, but I sincerely doubt that familiarity with the game will help anyone in figuring out very much of the plot.

DISCLAIMER: This is the second story in the Cocytan Trilogy. You don't need to have read the first, but it kinda helps in understanding parts of what's going on.

A human once observed that the peregrine falcon was the perfect bird of prey, combining grace, speed, and power in a package that was as beautiful as it was lethal.

Tachyon couldn't quite remember where he'd heard that, but he agreed completely. And, flying at least a hundred feet off the ground, he wasn't just concurring in an intellectual sense. He literally felt its validity, his muscles reaffirming it with every wingbeat. The winter air was cold and the ground snow-covered, but the exercise kept him from becoming too chilly.

He reveled in his ability and training. Playfully twirled around in the air several times, just to see if he could. Enjoyed the sensation of the wind flowing past his streamlined form, keeping his feathers pressed back nice and even; he even reveled in his appearance. It was that of an immense, Mobian bird, but completely devoid of humanoid features save for his intelligence, dextrous wingtips... and height. At three feet and two inches he was easily taller than any Earth falcon, with a wingspan that placed him closer to the albatross in width.

So many times Shadow had forced him to have his feathers dyed for one reason or another, whether for a specific purpose or simply on one of the capricious cat's whims. But now, he was completely devoid of the artificial coloration he so detested. His feathers were a charcoal black on top of his head, turning to slate-gray along the backs of his wings. His chest was pure white, and became spotted and striped with black along the rest of his underside.

Tachyon wasn't particularly vain. At times he almost viewed himself in the third person, as if his own form was simply another tool he had been granted. He wasn't really responsible for his conditioning, he just implemented the regimen that Shadow ordered. He belonged to the cat, really; whether as aide, bodyguard, or pet. Or even as his assassin-

No, that was too unpleasant to think about. Shadow could actually be very kind at times. Even at that moment, Tachyon had been permitted to refrain from wearing his belt and wing-mounted communicator. They could become very irritating to his skin sometimes; but, more importantly, the fact that his master permitted him to temporarily discard the communicator and its integrated tracking device was a sign of great trust. It was as if he had finally been forgiven for violating that trust, three years ago.

Of course, the cat still seemed to prefer Robotnik's pet velociraptor over him. But, given enough time and a lot of hard work, he was sure that he could win back his status as Shadow's favorite.

Aha! There was his target, far below: an orange fox. Even in the evening's light, his sharp eyesight could clearly make out two separate tails attached to the Mobian. And it was hiding next to a bare, grayish tree... probably learning, after their past encounters. How pleasant. It would make things that much more challenging.

He glided in wide circles, silently waiting for his prey to make its next move. It certainly wouldn't remain there forever, but it might prolong its stay if it saw him. Had it seen him?

No. It darted out, headed for another tree. Tachyon had precious few seconds in which to strike, but seconds were all that he needed. He went into a sharp dive, aiming straight for the Mobian. Careful that he was at enough of an angle to avoid impacting the ground if he missed; a synthetic claw attached to his right leg reminded him of a time when he hadn't been quite so meticulous.

Not even a half-second to go. The Mobian must have heard him rushing towards it, began to turn its head around to look-

Tachyon's claws made contact with its shoulders.

Part One

---------

As if the cold weather wasn't bad enough, Tachyon found walking through snow to be both freezing and painful. His lower claws were covered with an insulated plastic sheath to protect them; this, combined with the fact that he simply brushed the fox's shoulders with the blunt ends of his claws, meant that no actual damage was done to his six-year-old "prey".

He circled around the tree that Tails had been running for and then landed on a sturdy branch, looking down at the other Mobian and half-smiling. "You're it. Now come and get me."

After a couple of false starts, the fox twirled his tails in the air, tiny cells in his skin manipulating gravitic energies just enough to generate lift. He awkwardly propelled himself into Tachyon's vicinity; the falcon made some show of trying to escape along the branch, but allowed himself to be tagged.

"My, but you're certainly improving. Keep practicing and I'm sure that you'll be able to fly as well as I can."

The child beamed proudly. "And I wanna be able to run, too. Just like Sonic."

Tachyon suppressed a frown as he gazed across the snow-covered ground at the setting sun. "Hrm. We should probably be heading back to the camp now."

"Okay." Tails nimbly climbed down the tree. "Race ya!"

Tachyon obliged him, flying slowly enough so as to permit the much younger Mobian to win. Tails could generate the same energy fields as Sonic, that was for sure; he'd simply had so little practice that he was hardly a match for the falcon.

What was it that Tails saw in that hedgehog? The fox's scores on intelligence tests easily surpassed Sonic's; just about anyone else's, for that matter. Even at an early age he had been able to read. Not only that, but he did so prolifically. And he didn't just read children's books, either... he was just as often seen browsing through encyclopedias and thick reference works.

It was all a very sharp contrast to Sonic, who had fantastic abilities but diminished respect for intellectual prowess. Perhaps Tails was desperate for a role model; the child had been shuffled through the closest Mobian equivalent to a foster care system for years before finally ending up with Sir Charles Hedgehog, Sonic's uncle.

Even though they weren't related, weren't even of the same species for that matter, the two children fit perfectly into the roles of older and younger brother. Well, Tachyon was fairly sure they did. He had very little knowledge about what such roles actually entailed, and compounding this difficulty was the fact that Sonic absolutely refused to co-operate with (or even be civil to) him.

He started to sigh, but it turned into a midair shiver - the cold was getting to him, and he was uncomfortably reminded of why his kind normally migrated in winter. The coverings on his feet sensed his lowered body temperature, and began to warm their inner linings; redundant, he thought. They were almost to the campsite anyway.

Or perhaps "base camp" would be a better phrase. Its boundaries were delineated by a ring of motion detector poles, and soldiers from the Royal Guard were scattered throughout. Various tents and inflatable structures were arranged around the reason for both the secrecy and the high security: a huge, metallic dodecahedron, one side containing an opening large enough for even a human to fit through. When it originally entered the Mobian atmosphere it was more crystalline, even somewhat transparent, but its surface had somehow altered prior to its landing.

No... "impact" was a better word. Snow and dirt had been displaced for a hundred feet or more as the spacecraft had evidently skidded across the ground; many were surprised that they weren't probing wreckage at the bottom of a crater.

A guardsman waved as Tails ran past and came to a stop inside the camp. Tachyon had hardly landed next to him before a fluffy, Mobian cat came running up to them, his grayish fur the color of smoke.

The fox waved as he approached. "Hi, Mister Sinclair!"

Tachyon's salutations were more formal. "Greetings, sir."

"Sinclair" stopped next to them and patted the small fox on the head - a clear indication that he was in one of his better moods. "Hello, Miles. Enjoy playing in the snow?" The cat insisted on using Tails' proper name.

The child nodded. "Uh-huh. Photon's helping me learn how to fly. He says I'll be able to fly as good as he can." If it were possible, Tachyon might have blushed at this admiration.

"Well, you'd best get going over to the main hall about now. They're getting ready to serve dinner."

The fox opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off abruptly as a certain hedgehog sped towards him at high speeds and stopped right next to him, throwing snow off to the sides. Both Tachyon and Shadow shook the white substance off of themselves, the latter calmly bathing his now-wet hand afterwards.

Tails looked quite embarrassed, and Sonic's glare did not help. "Tails!"

"What? What'd I do?"

Sonic treated both falcon and cat to the same irritated glare, and then proceeded to whisper in Tails' ear so loudly that even Tachyon could hear him perfectly. "They told me you were out playing. With... with... HIM!"

Shadow smiled in amusement as he continued to lick the back of his hand. Tachyon's mind tried, unbidden, to show him what the hedgehog's face would look like after a falcon's claws were applied to it; he pushed the thoughts aside and continued to listen as Tails began to protest.

"But he's teachin' me how to fly..."

Sonic quickly shushed him. "You shouldn't be anywhere near them!", he whispered, as he shot another glare in their direction. "Come on. Let's go eat."

And with that, they departed, the cat and his pet following shortly after them.

***

The Main Hall, as they all referred to it, was a huge cabin that had apparently been abandoned years ago. A bit of renovation, and it was turned into a dining hall and makeshift auditorium for those participating in the investigation of the crashed spacecraft. A fire was blazing in the fireplace at the end opposite the doors, and helped to keep it reasonably warm inside.

Sonic tried to explain the situation to his younger companion as they piled food onto their plates from the dishes on the tables, lined up on one side of the large room. He'd thought that he could keep Tails occupied enough during the excursion that he wouldn't want to play with anyone else; but, no, the fox was naturally outgoing and friendly, and liked meeting new people. Which was a good thing. It just wasn't very appropriate when there were vicious killers present, and he told him so.

Tails listened with all the astonishment of an innocent child. "Photon tried to KILL you?"

"Shush! Keep it down." Finished selecting their food, they broke out of the line and sat down at a table in the center of the room. "First off, his name's Tachyon, not Photon. And, yeah... he tried to kill me, alright. Or at least capture me so Shadow could kill me later. I even saw him rip up an Overlander, once."

This was almost incomprehensible. "How?"

Sonic shoveled another forkful of... whatever it was, into his mouth, and swallowed before continuing. "What do you think those claws of his are for? He just sorta landed on her shoulders, and-"

Tails dropped his fork onto his plate and shivered violently, looking as if he were about to hide under the table. "Sonic, you're really scaring me." He had been outside the camp with that bird almost the entire day! If Tachyon had wanted to kill him, nobody would have ever known...

Sonic almost felt bad about the matter, but decided that Tails had better be good and scared so he wouldn't try to associate with that stupid falcon anymore. Or the cat. "And Shadow? He's even worse. Ya'know that history book you were reading when we left?"

"Uh-huh."

The hedgehog set his utensils down for a moment. This was more important than eating. "Remember the Chaos Wars? How that one guy found the really, really powerful emerald, and just about took over all of Mobius?"

"Uh-huh."

Sonic pointed off to the far table where Tachyon and (more importantly) Shadow were seated. "That's him."

Tails gasped so loudly that several people at adjacent tables turned to look in his direction for a moment. It never even occurred to the six-year-old to question such chronological incongruities as the cat's apparent youth; Sonic said it, so it must be true.

Several seconds passed in silence before he spoke. "Wow."

Sonic picked his fork back up and took another bite of what he thought was mashed potatoes, in some kind of gravy. "That's right. Along with that Robotnik Overlander I told you about, they're definitely the three worst people in the world. Oh, they'll tell you they're here with the Ministry of Science, to study the alien ship. They even got their fur and feathers' colors changed, new names... the whole nine yards. But they're still just as bad as ever."

"Doesn't Uncle Chuck know about it?" The older hedgehog was not present at the time... probably didn't want to leave the crashed spacecraft, not even to eat.

"Oh, yeah. He definitely knows. But nobody else believes him. So now we have Robotnik and friends running around the royal court like they own the place." He gave a snort of disgust. "They're definitely up to no good. I bet Tachyon even pulls butterflies' wings off in his free time."

***

Several hours later, the sun had set and the sky was filled with stars - a perfect opportunity for any amateur astronomer. But Tachyon had no interest in astronomy; instead, he was seated in a pile of sleeping bags that formed a makeshift nest, pencil in hand and journal spread out before him.

His flashlight provided adequate illumination, but he still found it difficult to write at that time. Sometimes it was so hard to put his thoughts into words, especially when he wasn't even sure what mood he was in. Was he angry, or just plain depressed? Maybe a little of both.

He hated Sonic! Every time he came in contact with the hedgehog, something bad happened. Three years ago Tachyon had failed to capture him, and was still experiencing the repercussions. If only he'd just done his job! The hedgehog would be captured, Shadow would rule Mobius, and Robotnik would never have bought that stupid dinosaur to draw his master's attention away.

Well... he could tolerate Slasher. But just barely. (It helped that they almost never spoke to each other.) She wasn't the cause of his difficulties so much as a symptom. No, he was responsible for his own problems.

He mentally beat himself for the two-hundredth time. Why was he so darned squeamish? Why hadn't he just killed Sonic when he'd had the opportunity? And now the hedgehog was alive and well, and was completely disrupting whatever influence he'd had over Tails. The child was gifted with superb abilities, both physical and mental... he could have been a valuable ally for Shadow's causes.

**Are you sure that's the only reason why you spend so much time with him?**

This train of thought was interrupted by Shadow's voice, whispering urgently at the "door" of the tent. "Tachyon! Get your foot-coverings on and come out here."

He quickly stuffed his journal in the folds of his nest, somewhat disappointed that he hadn't gotten anything written down. Shadow frequently brought him along on late-night excursions away from the base camp. Everyone else thought that they went to a nearby town's twenty-four-hour convenience store on midnight snack runs. And indeed they did, at Shadow's insistence.

But that was hardly the main reason...

***

"Speak."

The male voice had a melodic quality about it, its sounds resonating through the Cocytan's three sets of vocal chords. Which went well with his three, smallish sets of wings, Tachyon thought. Whatever unknown Creator had made these beings had certainly been in an unusual mood when He had done so.

The Cocytan's back half almost looked equine, and was set so far back from the rest of his body that it almost looked as if he would tip over. The huge, reverse-jointed legs probably helped balance him, though. He was mostly covered in a wooden-brown fur that had a sort of wispy, feathery quality to it... combining avian and mammalian traits, he reminded Tachyon of a mythological griffin. But only vaguely. Too many details were wrong; the head, for instance. Oval eyes lacked irises, a long set of whiskers drooped down from the "mouth" and a large flap on top was used for speaking.

But his most distinguishing feature was his size. He was BIG! At least three times taller than Tachyon! The falcon wondered why Shadow brought him along in the first place; certainly he was supposed to be the cat's bodyguard, but what could he possibly do to an alien giant who possessed vastly superior technology?

For weeks now they'd met every few days at this secluded spot in an evergreen forest near the base camp - the full moon provided fairly decent illumination at the time, but there were many shadows on the ground, not the least of which was Shadow himself. Tachyon thought that the cat was bringing equipment to the aliens to help them repair their spacecraft (much larger than the crashed one), probably from Robotnik's nearby fortress, but he couldn't be quite sure... the negotiations were often conducted in the Cocytan language.

Fortunately, the alien seemed to prefer English on that day. Tachyon preferred it that way; when he was able to hear the discussion, it was much easier to keep awake.

Shadow spoke as bidden, in a pleasant, conversational tone of voice. "How have the repairs been? Has everything gone well for you?"

The Cocytan responded; his speech was louder, and having as many vocal chords as he did only enhanced his bluntness. He responded to Shadow's questions sequentially, as seemed to be his habit. "They are finished. Yes."

"Excellent. Will you be needing anything more?"

"Correct. I require the most distinctive genetic patterns that this planet has to offer."

"Ah, yes. That reminds me..." The alien cocked his head to one side as he listened to Shadow. Tachyon was fairly sure that the gesture was an indication of impatience; this being probably didn't much like discussing anything peripheral to his purposes.

Shadow continued, either oblivious or apathetic to this consideration. "What do you do with the lifeforms you acquire, anyway? I've been somewhat curious." He smiled. How the feline managed to keep a superior air about himself when confronted with a ten-foot pseudo-griffin, Tachyon did not know. Maybe it had something to do with his species... cats were like that, somehow.

"Anything that suits our purposes. Lifeforms and genetic patterns are sold to finance our research, and the scientists are given free reign to experiment as they please."

"What sort of methods do you use in your experiments? I've been wondering if your techniques might not be equally applicable to interrogation procedures." Shadow's smile remained. It probably wasn't often that he got to compare methods of torture.

The alien cocked his head to the other side before continuing. This obviously did not interest him. "Whatever methods we deem most applicable. Sedatives are often used on subjects for physiological procedures, to permit the researchers to operate more freely. However, we have conducted myriad psychological experiments as well, and tangible factors tend to influence psychology."

"Such as?"

For the next several minutes Tachyon forced himself to stand as straight as possible, to hide the fact that his legs were trying to quiver so much as to threaten collapse. Shadow listened with rapt attention and made several suggestions of his own, while the Cocytan patiently explained the horrific procedures as if he were helping the cat with a math problem. He actually sounded bored.

Tachyon, on the other hand, was hardly bored, as he imagined Shadow trying such ideas out on him; indeed, the cat was probably looking forward to an opportunity or excuse to do so. He would have to be especially careful not to make any sort of mistake... nervousness conspired with the cold weather to lower his internal temperature, and the linings of his foot-coverings heated themselves in response. He forced himself to concentrate on their warmth, on the picturesque landscape, on anything but the conversation, but it was impossible not to listen.

Finally, the Cocytan cut Shadow off in midsentence. "Return to a more relevant topic. I am not interested in your perversions; my pleasure is in the information gathered, not the process. Society can be bettered by proper application of the knowledge we obtain."

"Ah, but where's this supposed benevolence of yours when you're out kidnapping people?"

He fixed a steady glare on the Mobian. "The subset of Ethical Calculus to which I adhere dictates that they are not people. They are inferior lifeforms. As are you."

If the remark was meant to intimidate or threaten Shadow, he certainly didn't seem to notice. Instead, he waved one hand in the air in front of him, flexing his fingers; a Cocytan gesture, Tachyon noted. Roughly the equivalent of a shrug of indifference.

"Whatever. You were saying something about acquiring distinctive genetic patterns or whatnot?"

"Correct."

"Well, you certainly couldn't have picked a better planet. Mobius is loaded with such distinctiveness! For example, just a few miles away in our base camp there's a certain hedgehog..."

Part Two - Morning of the Next Day

-------------------------------------

The sun was low in the sky and the shadows were long on the snow-covered ground; a touch that Shadow found pleasant. It was even more chilly than usual in the morning, and he wore a thick, dark blue scarf to supplement the thermal protection provided by his fur.

The snow was several inches deep, a fluffy powder that crunched under his boots and made walking slow. But walk he did, nonetheless, all around and through the base, smiling broadly at the scene. His wasn't a particularly sinister smile. An observer might have thought that he was just cheerfully strolling through the area, were it not for the context provided by his surroundings.

Mobians ran through the camp all about him; some screaming hysterically, others with a look of desperation on their faces. And every so often, one of them would inexplicably disappear with a display of light and a brief whooshing noise, the air rushing in to fill the vacuum left by their absence. Some of the guardsmen waved electrically charged pikes in the air, trying to thwart their invisible enemy.

Off to the cat's right, the atmosphere briefly distorted and the outline of a Cocytan was visible as one of the pikes made contact with it. Immediately afterwards there was the sound of a hard impact; the canine guardsman was flung perhaps twenty or thirty feet through the air before hitting a dead tree's trunk with a satisfying crunch. Shadow's smile broadened.

The Cocytans were certainly efficient, he mused. He'd spent years learning how to become undetectable, but with the aid of their technology they almost seemed to phase out of reality. Not even footprints were left! Probably they floated above the snow, or something.

And now, with their aid, Sonic would be captured and subject to tortures even more painful than those he'd personally devised during his long career. It was such a pleasant thought, though he was somewhat disappointed that he wouldn't be present. He loved seeing chaos manifest itself in suffering; always the strong would grow stronger, and the weak would be weeded out. Plus, it was fun to watch his enemies shrivel.

He wished that he could have caught the hedgehog himself, but he was always too fast for him. Oh well. Maybe Sir Charles would prove an easier target, now that Shadow didn't have to worry about blowing his cover. Surely no-one would be too surprised to find the older hedgehog's mangled remains at the scene of a near-paranormal event. And he and Tachyon could be the only survivors, narrowly escaping to tell the tale on every major television network.

Plus book deals. Maybe even a TV movie contract... no, he didn't much care for acting, even though he was very good at it. He had to do enough of it as it was, to keep people from getting suspicious, and he was much more looking forward to destroying Sir Charles. Assuming the Cocytans didn't find him first...

But, surely they wouldn't mind if he killed just one of the Mobians at the camp. Or two. Or three. They could have all the others. He flexed his claws in eager anticipation, the same almost-pleasant smile on his face.

"Mister Sinclair!" A Mobian fox came running, his grayish fur almost the same color as Shadow's after the application of the unpleasant dye. Distasteful, too, and in a very literal sense. It wasn't supposed to wash out, but he could taste it on the occasions when he used his tongue to clean himself.

The male, vulpine Mobian - a child, perhaps around Sonic's age - stopped next to him, and he stood still, watching the other with a pleasantly amused look. "Yes?"

"My..." The fox was panting and choking somewhat on his words. He looked as if he wanted to scream, hide, and cry all at the same time... had probably been doing some of the latter already. He kept sniffling, and small drops of moisture were visible on his face. "My Dad disappeared, and everyone else is disappearing, and..." He screamed a question. "What's going on!?"

Shadow put his hands on the fox's shoulders and looked into his eyes, trying to keep a straight face as he did so. His words were chosen carefully. "It's the End of the World, and everyone is going to die painfully. Including you!"

The child stared at him for a moment, and then ran off, crying profusely. Shadow's smile returned, and he laughed out loud. He just wished he had his beautiful emerald with him; things like that were always so much more enjoyable when it was present.

A female squirrel ran past, and he casually extended his claws and applied them to her midsection. She doubled over in pain, collapsing onto the snow and gagging from the intense agony. It would probably take her several minutes to die.

But that was nothing compared to what he would do to Sir Charles...

***

Despite Shadow's pronouncement, it was hardly the End of the World. Especially for a certain hedgehog and his vulpine companion.

Even though Sonic frequently bragged about and publicly reveled in his running ability, every now and then it frustrated him to no end. He couldn't race anyone, because nobody that he knew of was even remotely capable of beating him. And he couldn't play tag - once again, because he so completely outclassed all possible competition. He rarely pondered such things, and even when his impatient mind did it wasn't for long, but during such moments of introspection he almost felt as if he was missing out on some critical part of his childhood.

Of course, that was before he'd met Tails. He insisted on training the fox; and Tails, for his part, was thrilled by the prospect of being able to match his role model.

Every day that they'd been able to, they would go outside the camp and run, Sonic keeping himself at a relatively sedate pace so that he wouldn't speed right past his companion. They would run across low hills, between trees, and over flat fields of pure snow. Very little thermal protection was actually required; the exercise kept them warm enough, though they both wore scarves.

And although multiple-inch-deep snow tended to impede such activities as hiking, their energy fields propelled them not through but over the snow. Nary a footprint was left as they literally glided on air, though some of the snow was flung to either side as they sped over it. Even after several hours of play, the white landscape would remain relatively undisturbed.

And it was even less disturbed when they'd hardly been out for thirty minutes. Sonic was determined not to let Tachyon get anywhere near his friend, and had insisted that Tails join him for running practice early in the morning. The fox hadn't complained at all, but was beginning to question the wisdom of Sonic's suggestion.

"Sonic?" He called out to the other as they ran at roughly the speed of a slow-moving car. "Can we go back to the camp now? I'm kinda hungry."

"Aw, c'mon. It's not even..." He stopped, as he realized that he wasn't actually sure what time it was. "Well, I don't know, but it's still early. Let's just stay out a little while longer." The hedgehog wanted to be completely sure that Tachyon was at work on the alien ship - or whatever it was that he did all day - by the time they got back.

But, the exertion was gradually forming a knot in Tails' side, and the pain was only compounded by his hunger. He slowed down and eventually stopped altogether, his energy field weakening and then collapsing as he did so. His feet sank into the snow.

"Tails..." Sonic sighed, and ran over to his companion. "Look, let's just stay out for a little while longer, and then we can go back and eat. Okay?"

Tails echoed the other's sigh. "Okay." He didn't seem at all thrilled about the prospect, and Sonic began to feel bad about dragging him outside that early in the morning.

"Look, I'll let you pick the next game. Anything you want."

The fox pondered his options. "How 'bout hide and go-seek? I don't wanna run any more."

"Okay. I'll hide, and you find me!" And with that, he was off, at his trademark velocities no less. The longer it took Tails to find him, he thought, the better.

"Son-iiic! Wait!" But the hedgehog was already too far away to hear him.

He sighed, once again. Sonic was just too fast! How was he supposed to find him?

***

"Sir? We've... ah... been completely unable to find Sonic." Tachyon tried to force himself not to show any fear, but his master's conversation from last night continued to haunt him. The Cocytan who had given Shadow so many of the horrific suggestions discussed stood next to them, calmly observing the display on what was presumably a handheld scanner of some sort.

Shadow waved his hand in the air again, in that odd gesture of dismissal. "Doesn't matter. He will come back to the camp sometime today, and then he'll be captured. Of course, it would be kind of nice if he were located before then, don't you think?"

"Um... yes, sir." It was obviously more than an idle suggestion.

The Cocytan spoke. "If his prior encounters with the hedgehog are any indication, your pet is not capable of completing that task." Tachyon tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as he clenched his fists, out of both irritation and embarrassment. He hated being reminded of his failures.

The alien continued. "I will have the area surveyed. Your pet may accompany me if you would like, but I sincerely doubt his usefulness." He seemed almost like a machine in his resonant monologue, but it was clear that he was well aware of the effect that his words were having on Tachyon. The falcon forced himself to calm down.

"Sure thing." Shadow checked a handheld scanner of his own, and spoke without looking up from it. "Now, if you'll excuse me..." He walked off, without further explanation.

The Cocytan watched him leave, and then faced Tachyon. "What is he doing." It was a question, but had no questioning tone to it; sounded more like an order. Tachyon was pretty sure that he knew what Shadow was doing, but refused to acknowledge that the alien had any authority over him.

"I have no idea whatsoever." He returned the other's gaze, with some amount of defiance. It was obvious that he was lying, but he didn't care.

The Cocytan didn't even shrug, but just turned around and walked away, heading out of the camp and issuing a command as he did so. "Come."

And Tachyon did so. If it was at all possible to find Sonic he would, and Shadow would be proud of him. Just like it should have happened, three years ago.

***

He was falling. There were walls on every side, but they were falling with him; them, and the rest of the ship. Displays, controls, crystalline imagers... all were present and functional. And frustratingly unable to make his condition all that much better.

The Second knew that it was a dream. He didn't know how; perhaps his subconscious finally recognized it, after having relived it so many times. And lived it once.

He remembered it so clearly... it had been a remarkably unpleasant sensation, to be awakened from stasis by being flung out of the suspension field. (At least it wasn't some sort of primitive cryogenic mechanism; for that he could be thankful.) He had tried to assess the situation, along with his First, but the latter's confidence had apparently been replaced by panic, and he just ignored that, along with his own fear, and he ran to the controls, and-

It was all very quick, especially by the standards of his reserved, analytical race. He was not used to operating spacecraft by himself, and his eyes and resonance nodules had been practically overloaded with data. One display was printing a log of events (they had been attacked by the gene traders' ship), an imager was displaying a systems report along the ultraviolet spectrum (it felt like most of the ship's functioning was quite impaired, but his untrained organs were unable to make out very much more), and the hull around him vibrated with another impact.

The First's panic had turned into some sort of wild frenzy, and he looked like any member of a younger race might have. Almost feral, for that matter. He'd wrapped his three-fingered hands around the tactical controls (hands? Only mature Cocytans had those, triad youngsters had claw pairings!) and projected a good deal of their ship's vital energy into space, scoring a hit or two on the other spacecraft.

They needed that energy for an emergency landing! No time to think about anything, to ponder how patently bizarre the situation was (hadn't the report said that life crystals could be addictive? Withdrawal sped up the aging process...) He and the Third had wrestled the First down, and knocked him unconscious just in time for the inertial dampeners to fail.

That was a bad situation. They were being drawn toward a nearby gravity well - a planet of some sort - and unless the inertia was checked properly they would end up smeared along the back wall. He could feel it already, they were floating at a different rate than that of the ship, all being drawn in one direction...

The gravity didn't seem to be working, either. His small wings flapped with power beyond their size, pushing him towards what he thought was the right console, until he was able to grab hold of it with his claws. A few buttons pressed, some power diverted; there, that should keep it together for another few minutes. But the ship was still falling!

He didn't remember how he'd done it. He'd had no idea what to do, and the controls felt so awkward in his cartilaginous claws, but the ship's descent was gradually stabilizing. It was as if his actions were being guided by some higher power; of course that was ridiculous, but whatever it was he was hardly about to question it.

And then the ship made contact with the ground. He'd been knocked unconscious by the impact, and he found it ironic that it should invariably be the part where he woke up. There was no jolt back to consciousness, no abruptly sitting up and gasping for breath; just an immediate awakening, and a slow opening of the eyes.

Like most others of his race he slept upright, in a squat position, his arms and legs tucked into the folds of his body segments. It was supposed to conserve heat, but he still wasn't quite warm. The cave was damp, dark, and very, very cold. The only light came from a clustering of nanites in the middle of the cavern, between the three Cocytans, but the microscopic biomachines had apparently stopped generating heat.

He began to shiver, and actually sneezed. The noise echoed off of the stone walls, and he was afraid that the other two might wake up, but they did not. The Third remained in the same, squat position, while the First was sprawled out across the rock next to them. He looked almost like some sort of animal in that position, which appearance complemented his recent behavior nicely.

The Second wanted to stretch, but at the same time he didn't want to expose himself to the freezing air. The resonance nodules below his eyes flickered briefly, and a query was sent to the nanites: why was the room so cold?

Everyone back on homeworld had said that triad youngsters couldn't comprehend the intricacies of nanite programming, and he'd actually believed them when his First had ordered him to figure it out. Well, he still found it to be a tad difficult, but he was gradually learning how to control the tiny biomachines that accompanied every member of his race from hatching. They transmitted a response; it felt like they had exhausted whatever minerals they were using to warm the room.

Simple enough to resolve. He "told" them to find more raw materials, and the glowing patch of bioluminescent nanites moved about the cavern floor, until it finally stopped about three feet away from its original position.

Now, at least, they wouldn't freeze to death, but there were still so many other difficulties. Their ship was crashed on some remote planet, and they were hiding out in a cave like common, lesser beings. The gene traders could still be pursuing them, and even if they weren't there were all sorts of other, unknown dangers on this world. What should they do? They couldn't stay there forever.

But they had to for the time being, to allow the First to recover. He'd read the reports, and questioned the effectiveness of the life crystals, but he couldn't just let the First die in front of him! He'd HAD to use one on him. And now his brother - always the one to take initiative, always the one who knew what to do - was going through a horrible withdrawal as he was deprived of the glowing crystals. It tore the Second apart inside to see him like that, pathetically shivering and moaning while awake and sprawled out like an animal while asleep.

How long would it take him to get better? So far it had been several weeks that they'd been there. Everyone stayed inside the cave, with the primary exception of his trips outside to obtain food; the Third accompanied him once or twice, but later decided to stay inside and keep an eye on their brother.

And now there was some sort of noise coming from the vicinity of the cavern entrance, around several twists and turns in the rock. Just what they needed, another complication... he stretched and got up, placing himself between the noise and the other two Cocytans until he found out what the source was.


	2. Parts 3-5

Part Three

-----------

Sonic stood at the entrance to the cave, set in the base of a small hill. He smiled in satisfaction. This was perfect! Tails would never find him in there. He could explore the cave for a little while, and then he could bring the fox back to camp.

He walked a little ways down the rocky tunnel, making several turns along the way and noting that the light diminished as he went farther. He should have thought of that... maybe he would just have to hide somewhere else.

As he continued, he began to be aware of a very distinct odor inside the cave. What was that? Maybe something had died in there. Or maybe something lived in there... this thought stopped him, and he would have turned away if not for the faint light ahead of him in the tunnel.

That was certainly weird. His characteristic boldness overcame his common sense, and he continued towards the light, only to stop once again at the sight of the nine-foot creature between himself and the light's source.

***

--Internal diagnostics report: Systems ninety-four percent functional.--

--Host status: Unconscious. Mild injuries sustained.--

--Procedure: Stimulating consciousness in host. Estimated twelve seconds to full awakening.--

***

Slasher lay on her side, pressed against a cold, metal surface. There was a faint buzzing somewhere in her head, as her electronic collar forced her to awaken; she tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but it wouldn't let her, even though she hurt all over.

--Command: OBTAIN DATA.--

Her eyes were forced open, and she began to survey her surroundings, only partly of her own free will. Even through the headache, memories returned; she was in a truck of some sort. In the back, in a specially-designed cargo module. The hunting instinct common to all velociraptors had begun to develop in her young, five-year-old mind, and Doctor Robotnik was bringing her outside his base so that she could practice.

And then, in the middle of the ride, the vehicle had tumbled over and she had been thrown against the walls, knocked unconscious after several rough impacts. What had happened?

--Command: EXIT.--

Yes, yes, that's what she was doing! The module was not designed to be opened from the interior, but its locks had been warped somewhat. It took a minute or two, and some very noisy banging and scraping, but the door was finally forced open.

She stepped outside of the overturned truck and looked around at the frozen landscape. Never having driven such a vehicle before, the skid marks leading from the slick, icy road to the point where the vehicle had begun to tumble meant nothing to her; maybe the collar could make some sense of it.

--Command: VERIFY THE MASTER'S STATUS.--

Good idea. Slasher went around to the cab of the pickup-sized truck; the driver's side window was facing the ground, but she was able to peer in through the windshield. Robotnik was still present, albeit unconscious, held in place by a twenty-second century harness system. Was he dead? No, he was still breathing, but he might be injured. What should she do? She didn't know anything about first aid, though she'd heard that you shouldn't try to move an injured person.

--Command: FIND HELP.--

But he could freeze to death if she just left him there!

--Command: FIND HELP QUICKLY.--

She ran off down the road, trying to retrace the truck's path.

***

The cold was beginning to get to Tachyon, but he was hardly about to let the Cocytan know that.

Still, it was impossible not to shiver. He realized that he was downright freezing; the alien was setting their pace, walking through the snow at a rate that was actually quite rapid but could not keep up with his flight. He'd begun by flying in circles, but eventually got tired of that and landed, walking through the snow.

That was perhaps ten or twenty minutes ago, and by now his foot-coverings were thoroughly soaked with melted snow. Heat was rapidly being drained from his body, and so he stopped to try to do something about it. There was a road nearby - old, unused, and devoid of traffic - and so he set himself down on a relatively dry section of pavement and tore his foot-coverings off, flinging them away and shivering violently as he did so. The Cocytan stopped next to the road during this process, and watched him impassively. It seemed to Tachyon that he was very impatient.

Tachyon removed his belt and tried to dry his feet off with a part that was relatively empty, but he was shivering so much that he ended up tearing it in half with his claws. Goodness, but he was cold! He knew that he required some sort of heat, that his species wasn't designed for arctic temperatures, and he wished that he were back in the main hall, next to the fire...

The Cocytan probably had some way of alleviating his difficulty, but he absolutely refused to admit weakness. Instead, he reached into another pocket of his belt and removed several small, chemical heating pads. He grabbed one in each of his feet, and held another against his chest. They gradually increased in temperature, and their warmth spread throughout him, slowly easing his shivering.

He was surprised that the alien was not complaining - wait a minute, he wasn't there anymore. Where had he gone? Had he activated that invisibility field of his? Oh, that probably explained it. Someone was approaching, from far down the road. The Cocytan probably didn't want to be seen.

And that someone who was approaching looked familiar, no less. His sharp eyesight was easily able to make out the distinct form of a six-foot velociraptor, tall and powerful, running with quick, bird-like motions.

He placed the one heating pad underneath his wing and cupped his hands to his beak, calling out. "Slasher?" What was SHE doing here?

***

If she'd studied enough biology to be aware of the fact, Slasher might have been grateful to be warm-blooded. A true lizard would have frozen to death long ago, but dinosaurs were very different, combining many avian traits. And some which weren't, such as the row of tiny glands strewn near several of her major arteries, acting as miniature heaters. A crude system, in comparison with most any given mammal, but it did the job. (The paleontologists had no idea what sort of information they were missing out on, just poking around in piles of fossilized bone.) This, combined with the fact that she was running at around sixty miles an hour, helped keep her from freezing in the frigid weather.

She caught sight of a Mobian standing on the side of the road; he called out as she approached. Who was that? She seemed to recall speaking with him, once or twice. Slasher tried to remember, and her collar eventually supplied the necessary data. Tachyon, Shadow's assistant. Considered a friend of Robotnik, for the purposes of the anti-aggression program. But, most importantly, he possessed both first aid training and equipment, the latter typically carried in his belt.

The falcon continued trying to query her, as she approached and stopped next to him. He looked very small; not to mention downright pathetic, the way he was shivering. "What are you doing? What's going on? I thought you were out training... or something like that." He sneezed, which did little to enhance her opinion of him.

"I was -" She stopped, as her collar pronounced a command. BRING HIM TO THE MASTER. He could possibly help.

***

Tachyon rolled his eyes as the raptor stopped in midsentence, eyes glazing over somewhat. It could be very frustrating sometimes, just trying to get information out of her. He was glad that Shadow had never felt a need to apply any sort of mind-control devices to him.

Finally she looked back to him. "You must come with me."

Tachyon groaned, and then sneezed again. He set the heating pad aside as he searched for a handkerchief, in his belt. "And why might that be? Believe me, I'm perfectly happy where I am, not to mention," he sneezed again, it was almost getting to be embarrassing, "that Shadow has already given me specific orders to-"

"Come. Now." Her language was both simple and direct. Whether it was a function of her collar's programming or a low vocabulary on her part, he didn't know.

He shook his head. "I can't do that." Why wasn't she listening?

"Now."

Couldn't she at least explain herself? She didn't look to be all that bright. Maybe he could distract her, or something. He put the handkerchief away, and broke a small branch off of a neadby, dead tree, which branch he then waved in front of her, speaking as if with a dumb animal. "Look. See the stick? See the stick?"

She did not seem at all amused.

He tossed the stick away. "Fetch the stick, stupid! Fetch the stick!"

Slasher briefly turned to glance in the direction in which he had tossed the stick, and then looked back to him. She looked as if she were getting very impatient.

Tachyon sighed. "No wonder you're extinct."

"I want you to come now. It is very important." She was speaking through her teeth, which were clenched out of frustration. Her words were practically a growl.

***

Slasher silently cursed the collar, as it forced her to assume a diplomatic stance. Once again the bird refused her request; this wasn't getting her anywhere, and she hardly intended to just stand there all day. Couldn't he see that she needed him? What a stupid creature.

Tachyon bent over to pick up the heating pad which he had previously set aside, and she abruptly leaped forward and grabbed him, not stopping as she did so. She just continued to run, run at top speed, back to the truck. She carried him under her left arm; the bird was surprisingly light.

And very upset. "Hey!" He dropped every one of the heating pads that he was carrying as she picked him up, but that didn't matter. It didn't matter that he was rude, and irritating, and didn't listen to her, and tried to insult her intelligence. None of it mattered, just as long as she was able to get him back to-

She cried out, and abruptly dropped him. She looked back, and down at herself; she was in pain. The area under her left shoulder was injured, and a shade of red that exactly matched the color of Tachyon's moist claws.

***

Tachyon righted himself after falling, but remained stunned. Not just from the impact with the pavement; he was beginning to realize what he'd just done. Slasher was a velociraptor, created and trained to be a vicious killing machine, and he'd just attacked her! It was a primitive, instinctive act, and he immediately regretted it. For more than one reason.

"Um... Slasher? I'm very sorry-"

"Be QUIET," and she used a word that had probably been gleaned from her master's vocabulary. Whether it was being applied to him or the collar, he didn't know, but decided that it was most likely a bad thing either way. He was extremely grateful for the collar's anti-aggression program.

"Look, I'll just be leaving you alone right now, if you don't mind..."

She shivered convulsively, shaking to a lesser degree for the next few seconds afterwards. Was the cold finally getting to her? Or perhaps... no. Surely she couldn't!

He turned away from her and raised his wings to take off, when he heard an unearthly, angered scream, and the sound of something rushing through the air behind him. Instinct and terror shouted at him to take flight, and adrenalin strengthened his wings, but he'd barely gotten off the ground before the attack came.

Behind him, Slasher executed a flying kick, six-inch claw fully extended; there was a hard impact on the falcon's backside, and a firey pain in his right shoulder. He was knocked to the ground, beak pressed into the snow.

He lifted his head to breathe, tried to get up, but barely half a second passed before the next strike. A claw tore from his shoulder to his tail; the pain was intense, and the wound very deep. This time Tachyon screamed - a high-pitched, avian noise - and realized that, yes, she probably could overcome the safeguards after all.

Part Four

---------

Tachyon had read about such incidents, before. It often seemed as if the humans experiencing the attacks eventually slipped into a sort of euphoria, gave up on struggling. Became detached from the events.

But he wasn't human. He was a bird of prey, a predator just as aggressive as Slasher in his own right. And his predator's instincts were telling him that something even larger and more powerful was behind him, and was literally tearing him apart! They yelled at him to get away, to escape. And he tried, desperately struggling through his injuries to get up, even though he knew that he'd probably been fatally wounded already. It was worse than Shadow's tortures; just as painful, and vastly more terrifying. He always knew that the cat never meant to kill him.

Instinct finally took over completely, and he experienced no conscious thought other than the imperative that he escape, with overtones of hysterical panic. Near-toxic levels of adrenalin flowed through his system, and he pushed his wings against the ground, trying to lift himself up, even though his shoulder was horribly lacerated.

Another claw-strike, and he was pressed back into the snow, in even more pain than before. His right wing was mangled, and refused to function. He kicked and flapped around in the snow, mostly from pain but partially hoping that one of his lower claws would connect with his assailant.

Finally, she picked him up in her jaws, razor teeth tearing into his sides, and he went rigid - terror or physical paralysis? He couldn't be sure, couldn't actually feel anything except pain, and fear.

These sensations were then accompanied by a jolt, an impact of some sort. Slasher was hit, not him, but he flew out of her jaws nonetheless and landed in a mangled heap, in the snow again. He continued to cry out in agony for several seconds, wished that he could just die and get it over with-

There was a glowing around the periphery of his vision, and an odd, fluid sensation gradually replaced the pain, as if a thick liquid had been poured over him. The pain left him completely; he was whole again, albeit positioned at an awkward angle on the ground.

He began to be aware of the snow's coldness, and to see what was going on around him. Slasher was unconscious on the ground, and the Cocytan was standing over him. So that's what had happened! He'd been rescued and healed, somehow... he wasn't quite sure what had been done, but decided that he probably couldn't have understood the alien technology that had been used, anyhow.

The alien watched, with the same impassive look on his face as before, while Tachyon stood up and dusted the snow off of himself. But the falcon's movements were very awkward, and his wings shook. He had just lived through an unimaginably traumatic experience, and the fear had not left him.

His breaths were rapid, his heart rate even more so. He swallowed and tried to compose himself, but collapsed nonetheless; wrapping his wings around the nearest object (the Cocytan's massive, reverse-jointed leg) and shaking all over, drawing in huge gasps of air as he attempted to calm down. Terror and adrenalin both had built up to exceedingly high levels, and any semblance of social custom was pushed aside as he let it all out.

The guilt was also horrible, as he realized that he knew exactly what every one of his kills had been like on the receiving end. At one point he started crying profusely for the first time in almost a century, completely unable to control himself and horribly embarrassed that someone was present to see it. His tears ran down the Cocytan's foot, and froze on the snow.

After a full minute he stopped abruptly, still gasping and trying to calm down, but finally able to keep from crying.

The other spoke. "Do go on, if you'd like. These data have been more than valuable." Tachyon looked up, and saw that a small, handheld device was being manipulated.

He replied, in between breaths. "Yes... I'm sure it's been most entertaining." His words were sarcastic, tinged with both annoyance and embarrassment. Tachyon realized that he was still clinging to the Cocytan's leg, and forced his wings to let go. He stepped back several paces.

"Not exactly." The alien didn't even look over to address him, but continued tapping various controls on the device. "Interesting might be a better word. This sort of attack - involving a sentient being on both sides, no less - has never been observed outside of a laboratory setting. My colleagues will thank me for the information."

Oh, wonderful, now his defeat and subsequent outburst were going to be a hot topic dozens of light-years away, among beings that already saw his race as primitive. "Couldn't you have acted a little sooner?"

"I came as quickly as I could, but when I realized what was going on I had to record it. I wanted to gather as much information as possible, but chose to intervene before she ate you. The crystals typically aren't all that effective on a stomach's contents, and your owner would have been less than pleased to hear of your demise."

"What? You... how dare-" He sputtered incoherently, outraged that he had only been saved at the last possible moment, and the Cocytan spoke over him.

"That is certainly a fascinating creature." An immense hand idly gestured at Slasher's inert form. "It would be very pleasant to continue studying it."

"Well, too darned bad. She's Robotnik's property, and Shadow likes her. He'd probably be very, very upset if you were to 'continue studying' her, and believe me, you don't want to see him when he's upset." He tried to turn up his beak in indignation, but found it difficult to do so when facing someone three times taller than himself. Normally he tried to be more reserved, but decided that he could be forgiven for his lack of tactfulness after what he'd just experienced.

"What if I did not bring her back for study? What if she were to just disappear in these arctic wastes? Perhaps you never saw her, and this entire encounter was a figment of your imagination."

"A figment of my imagination! Are you..." Tachyon stopped, as he realized what the other was suggesting. Here was a chance to become Shadow's favorite again, by default! Not to mention punish the velociraptor for actually trying to EAT him.

**No.** It was that voice again! The same one that had told him not to kill Sonic. _**You know what she would be put through. The tortures were described to you last night. You cannot permit this.**_

Oh, really? And why not? Shadow would.

**You're not like Shadow. Your heart is still intact. Don't do it.**

He considered this for a moment, and the Cocytan spoke. "Perhaps the encounter was a figment of my imagination as well. Or was it? Your owner might find a video replaying of your little fit to be most amusing."

That did it. Tachyon pushed the voice out of his mind, and responded. "Go ahead, then." The attack returned to his memory with greater lucidity, and he stared daggers at Slasher, clenching his fists in anger. "Get her away from me. Far away. I don't ever want to see this stupid creature again!"

Slasher actually opened her eyes at this, and returned his glare. The fear returned for one horrible moment, and then the Cocytan casually tossed a small, glowing device onto her. She disappeared, with a flash of light and a whooshing noise.

"Now then," and the Cocytan turned back in the direction they had originally been headed, "shall we continue?"

Part Five

---------

The Second watched as the strange alien stopped about fifteen feet away, staring up at him with eyes that were impossibly wide for a creature so small. No... not a creature. Species twenty-seven, subspecies four; a Mobian, they called themselves. That would seem to answer the question of what planet he was on.

It looked like it might try to run away. Instinct obviously had a much stronger hold on its mind than for the Second's race, and probably most others at that. Species twenty-seven had probably been artificially constructed somehow, a series of hybrids of nonsentients with some unknown species. And, he mused, the combination wasn't just physical.

It called out to him, a question of some sort in a language that he did not understand. And his computer, with integrated translator functions, was with their supplies in a corner of the cave.

The Third began to stir, emitting an oddly avian murmuring noise and finally tucking his head back into his fur. On the other side, the First didn't even seem to notice.

He nudged the Third, keeping an eye on the Mobian as he did so. "Third?" He whispered softly, in part to keep from startling the alien. Strange... it actually seemed fascinated in them. Not at all what he'd been expecting, and quite a change from its previous expression.

He received almost no response from the other Cocytan. It could be very irritating, trying to wake the Third up, and often took several minutes. Well, he didn't have time for that, and there was always a surefire way to awaken him...

***

This was so cool! Sonic had seen a few pictures of Cocytans, before, but he'd never seen them in person. And now, here they were!

He'd been somewhat startled, at first, but that was because he'd thought that he'd stumbled across a bear or something. No, these beings posed absolutely no threat whatsoever. His uncle had told him quite a bit about them, during the expedition... highly logical, and perfectly calm. They were probably the most intelligent creatures in the galaxy.

That, and they had those crystal starships of theirs. He'd been most excited to hear about them; anything fast deserved his respect, and their starships were, in his words, "WAY past fast."

He'd had no idea how accurate his description was, at the time that he'd pronounced it. Cocytan starships, as his uncle had explained, did not actually go faster than light. Instead, they somehow locked on to a starting position in space and time, and anytime afterwards they could instantly warp back to it. Or anywhere along the way. They could take eighty years to get someplace, and then go back to the time that they'd left, while staying at the new location. It was as if they just instantly warped there!

They even used handheld versions of those things. With portable warpers they could instantly imprison their enemies, or transport themselves out of danger and across space, right back to their homeworld. Everyone had assumed that that's what they'd done; their starship had crashed, and they'd warped back. Wait'll they hear about this, back at camp!

The one that had first seen him walked over to another. The other one looked like it might be sleeping; it slept sort of like a bird, he thought. All that was missing was a nest around it.

The first one nudged the other, and then its hair got all wavy for a second. No... he wasn't seeing things clearly in the dark. That wasn't hair; they talked with a flap on top of their heads, and they only used their mouths for eating. So it must be whispering something to the other one... trying to wake it up? He watched, curious.

The Cocytan who was standing up cocked its head to one side, looking at the sleeping one. Finally, it bent over backwards, placing its hands on the ground, and then delivered a calculated push with its left leg. The other Cocytan tipped right over, opening its eyes and making a comically awkward noise as it smacked into the cavern floor.

Sonic laughed out loud!

***

"What? What?" The Third got to his feet. "I'm awake! What's going on?" Off to their side, the First shifted his position unconsciously; a bomb could go off, and he probably still wouldn't wake up.

In response to the other's query, the Second pointed at the Mobian.

"Oh."

He gestured to their small pile of equipment. "Go get my computer."

"Okay." The Third walked over to their gear, and began rummaging around in it.

"And do hurry. That alien is making the oddest noises; I think it might be injured. Or terrified." He cast a glance over to the Mobian, who was doubled over and slapping its knees, eyes closed as it emitted a strange vocalization that echoed off of the stone walls.

***

Several minutes later, the Second had managed to get his computer's translator up and running. He didn't quite remember how it worked; something about scanning the target's brain activity to determine what it meant to say, and gradually compiling a linguistic database.

Of course, it didn't help that Mobian brains were radically different, and the technology to determine precise thoughts and emotions from raw brain waves was still relatively new. The translation was imperfect, but it would improve, and for the time being he was still able to make out some of what the alien was saying. It - no, he - had established that he was part of a group of other inferiors that was researching their crashed spacecraft, and that he was the fastest lifeform in existence; what relevance that (highly subjective) piece of trivia had, the Second did not know.

He spoke, facing into the translator. "You were startled to see me, but your fear seemed to replace itself with curiosity in short order. Why was that?"

The alien, which identified himself as Sonic, spoke, and the translator attempted to decipher his disorderly speech. Its results were far removed from perfect. "Fear: never experienced! *colloquialism omitted; subject exudes confidence* Your identification: as Cocytans: always aware of. Your race: intelligent. Wisdom: beyond initiation of violence."

The Second thought that he could understand that well enough, and hoped that the translator's accuracy would improve quickly. He tried to speak slowly, and with a simplified vocabulary, hoping that the other would understand him after his words underwent a similar mangling. "But there were others of my race, on or near this planet, who intend harm to lesser beings such as yourself. Have you not seen them?"

Sonic's words started out quite loud, in a distinct contrast to the translator's even tone. The Second tried to concentrate on the latter, and it helped that he couldn't understand the Mobian's primitive and unnecessarily complicated language. "Contradiction! Myself: not lesser. Also: no other Cocytans: noticed. Probable outcome: other Cocytans: already returned: to your planet."

He nodded. "Perhaps..."

The translator turned his speech into some phrase in the Mobian's incomprehensible dialect, and then Sonic spoke again. "You: coming back to base: are required to! All present: will die: upon your arrival."

He blinked. "Ah... can you please repeat yourself?"

***

The Cocytan seemed to regard Sonic quizzically, before speaking again. His three voices sounded, as Sonic would describe them later, "cool"; a more cultured hedgehog might have chosen the word "beautiful". In any event, they were quickly drowned out by the monotone voice of the translator. "Repetition: of your previous statement: necessary."

It was kind of difficult to understand what the alien said, but he was pretty sure that he wanted him to repeat himself. "I said you gotta come back to base. Everyone will just be dying to see you."

***

This time, the translator indicated that Sonic's statement was a benign metaphor. The Second wished that the machine were more reliable.

He turned to face the Third. "You heard that, am I correct?"

The Third clicked his claws together. "Yes."

"Do you think the natives pose a threat?"

"Well..." The other pondered this for a moment. "Maybe. Probably not. They might be able to help. But even if they're downright hostile, can our situation really get all that much worse?" He gestured around the room, and at their still-sleeping brother.

The Third continued. "You're getting to be pretty good at nanite programming. Maybe-"

He cut off his brother in midsentence. Being of a higher rank, it was the Second who should make the decisions; he'd asked for input, not a monologue! "Yes. I'll bring some of the nanites, and have the rest stay here."

And after he had arranged that, he made it clear to the Mobian that he wanted to visit that base of his as soon as possible. They left immediately, the Third watching their departure with some amount of disappointment.


	3. Part 6-Epilogue

Part Six

--------

"There it is." The Cocytan pointed off to their left, for Tachyon's benefit. "A lifeform posessing the target's characteristic EM fields, several hundred feet in that direction."

The falcon shook himself out of a bout of somewhat depressed introspection. The voice was gone, but something was still gnawing at him for letting Slasher get captured, and it took some effort to force himself into hunting mode.

"You're sure that it's Sonic?" He hoped that his voice sounded professional enough.

The Cocytan sort of shrugged with its wings, flapping and stretching them briefly. Not a shrug of dismissal, like the waving gesture; this was more on the order of "maybe, maybe not".

"I am unsure. You will verify, and I will follow."

It was irritating to be ordered around by the arrogant alien, but the plan was perfectly sensible, not to mention identical to what Tachyon was thinking of. Without another word he took off, flying in the direction indicated.

The sun was almost directly overhead by now, but the air was still freezing. Though Tachyon had managed to tie his belt back together for the time being, his foot coverings were still waterlogged; fortunately, the Cocytan was able to spare some of his nanites. (He had to insist on it, for that matter, because Tachyon wasn't about to ask on his own.) The falcon wasn't quite sure how they worked, like so many other pieces of alien technology, but he certainly wasn't chilly anymore. It was an odd sensation, feeling the cold wind blow past his face and yet being perfectly warm inside.

He pushed all such peripheral thoughts away, trying to concentrate on surveying the ground below. The hedgehog was nowhere in sight; but wasn't that Tails down there, at the end of a trail of footprints? And continuing to walk, at that. He looked tired, which probably explained why he wasn't running.

The Cocytan's scanner had evidently detected the young fox, instead of Sonic. But, wherever Tails was, Sonic was almost definitely close by...

Tachyon lowered altitude to approach the other Mobian, who stopped and stared at him with wide eyes before running off, his energy field propelling him above the snow at high speeds. This confused Tachyon for a moment, before he remembered how Sonic had ruined things the day before.

He refused to allow himself to get upset about the matter, and instead flew after Tails. The fox was running quite a bit faster than he had earlier - he was probably terrified, Tachyon noted in dismay - but was still slower than his pursuer. Eventually, seeing that he couldn't very well escape, he ran to a couple of large rocks and disappeared behind them.

Tachyon landed on top of one of the rocks. The situation was very familiar, and he remembered what effect he'd had on Sonic, last time. It didn't seem quite right to scare Tails in the same manner.

"Tails?" He called out, pacing back and forth on top of the rock instead of looking down to where the fox was hiding.

"Oh, dear. I wonder where he could possibly be?" Not really, but he didn't want to let Tails know that he knew where he was. "I was sure that I'd seen him. It is so very disappointing that I cannot find him, because I was looking forward to continuing his flying lessons!"

Still no answer. He stopped pacing; the only sound was rapid breathing coming from one side of the rock.

"Oh, I know. He probably wants to play hide-and-seek again! Okay, ready or not, here I come!" He tried to project artificial cheerfulness into his words.

Tachyon deliberately took his time about finding Tails. The clicking of his claws on the rock was accompanied by the same rapid breathing as before; he worried that the child would hyperventilate if he kept it up. Why wasn't he running? Probably because he knew that it wouldn't help him any. He was probably quite terrified, too. The bond between him and Sonic was remarkable, Tachyon mused... a few words from the hedgehog, and multiple days' worth of attempts to befriend Tails were shot down completely.

Finally Tachyon brought himself over to the side of the rock and looked down at Tails. The fox stared back with wide eyes; Tachyon became conscious of his own expression, and tried to soften it a little.

The child spoke, voice unsteady. "You're gonna try to kill me, aren't you?" He swallowed hard. "Just like Sonic."

Tachyon winced. That hurt.

"No, of course not. Don't be silly!" He tried, once again, to sound more cheerful than he actually was, and fluttered down to a spot near Tails. "Where on Mobius would you get such an idea?" As if he didn't know.

The fox's teeth started chattering. Tachyon hoped that it was mostly from the cold. "S-sonic told me t-that you tried to k-kill him. And y-you tore up a-an Overlander too." Tails shivered, sneezed, and tried to speak more coherently. "And your real name is Tachyon, and Mister Sinclair is Shadow, and you two and Robotnik are the three worst people in the world. And you rip butterflies' wings off in your free time." Goodness, but the hedgehog was certainly creative.

"Don't be ridiculous!" No, that sounded too harsh, not to mention that it probably wasn't a good idea to directly contradict Sonic. He sighed.

"Tails..." Tachyon thought for a moment or two, and tried to come up with a way around the hedgehog's words. He didn't consider himself to be a very good liar, but hoped that the child wouldn't be able to tell the difference. "Hmm. Remember last week, when you and Sonic were pretending to be arctic explorers?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well... a few years ago, Sonic was doing something like that. By himself. Except that he wasn't out here; he was playing near the base where Sinclair and I worked."

Tails gave him a quizzical look, and he worried about his credibility. It was uncomfortable enough to maintain an alternate identity all the time, and lying to a six-year-old didn't help any. Especially when he was already feeling guilty after he'd effectively sentenced Slasher to a life of torture.

He continued speaking, his words rushed. "You see, we were working with the Overlanders - it was after the Great War - and we were on one of their military bases, and Sonic was visiting. He was just... sort of... playing around outside, at a park near the gates, and then he spindashed a fence and brought his little game inside. The thing is, the Overlanders in charge of the base didn't like this very much."

The fox almost giggled a little; it looked as if he might be calming down. Encouraged, Tachyon continued. "I was working security there, and I was supposed to capture him. Which I did." He wished he had, at any rate...

Tails just stared at him. It was unthinkable that anyone could overcome his hero. "But Sonic's the fastest thing alive!"

Tachyon sighed, partially in remembrance of a time when that label had been exclusively applied to him. "Yes, but, you see, he was a lot younger back then. So... he wasn't as fast as he is now." Was he? The falcon wasn't quite sure.

He went on. "Sonic was still playing, and was absolutely convinced that I was an evil soldier working for the Overlanders, or something. I brought him back to his uncle - perfectly safe - but he started telling wild stories about the whole thing, no matter what I said."

Tails gave him a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"

Again, he sighed. "Look. The point is, I'm not going to hurt you. Alright?" He put one wing around the other Mobian's shoulders. Wasn't that the appropriate gesture? It was supposed to comfort people, somehow. The sensation was very odd, and unfamiliar.

Tails relented, at least. "Okay."

"Good." He quickly withdrew his wing. "Anyway. I've been trying to find Sonic all day... do you have any idea where he is?"

Another skeptical look. "Why are you trying to find Sonic?"

Tachyon tried to come up with a good excuse. His voice reflected his exasperation. "Because he's been gone all morning, and everyone back at base is worried about him!"

"Well..." Tails seemed to ponder whether or not to tell him. "We were playing hide-and-seek, and he ran off, and now I can't find him." So Tachyon hadn't been very far off in his earlier suggestion, after all...

"Come on, then!" He extended a hand to help Tails up. "If we both need to find him, then let's do so. Quickly."

Part Seven

-----------

Several minutes later, Tachyon was even more troubled than before. Slasher had been Robotnik's pet. Shadow even liked her. And what he done? Gave her to the Cocytans to experiment on.

It was wrong by any standard. How could he have even thought of doing it? But he'd done it anyway. And what about Tails? The child was probably going to end up with the same fate, after they'd found Sonic. The very thought revolted him.

The Cocytan was gone; actually, Tachyon thought, he was probably just concealing himself from Tails. The fox was walking alongside him, surveying their surroundings but every now and then turning to look at Tachyon, suspicion evident in his face.

"Why aren't you wearing your foot-coverings? Aren't you kinda cold?"

"Well, um..." Tachyon tried, once again, to come up with a good excuse, averting his eyes from Tails' insistent gaze. There was that oddly fluid sensation, around his feet this time; he looked down, and saw that his foot-coverings were, in fact, present again.

How the alien did that, he did not know. But, he played along anyway. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm wearing them."

"Oh." The fox blinked several times, and rubbed his eyes. "Okay."

They continued walking in silence for several minutes. Sonic remained undetected, despite Tachyon's excellent vision; but the falcon found himself more concerned about Tails. What would happen when they actually found Sonic? Would Sonic and Tails both be captured? And even if the fox escaped, how would it affect him to have the rest of his "family" abducted?

He sighed, and rubbed his forehead. Why did he keep letting sentiment get in the way of his job?

The communicator on his left wrist began to vibrate gently, a feature that Shadow had installed in the last year or two. It was supposed to be less conspicuous that way, but Tails' attention was drawn nonetheless. "What's that supposed to be?"

Tachyon dismissed him with a wave, and pressed a button on his communicator. "Yes, sir?"

Shadow's voice was heard, low and angry. He also seemed to be breathing more heavily than was normal; it sounded like he was getting close to being downright worn out, for that matter. Tachyon wasn't sure why. "Have you found the hedgehog yet?"

He looked over to Tails, who stared back fearfully. This really wasn't helping matters any... "No, sir. But, I did find Tail- ...that is, Miles, and he's been helping me look for Sonic."

The cat sounded surprised. "Really? I thought he was back at base all this time."

Tachyon shook his head, even though he consciously knew that the gesture wouldn't be transmitted. "He said something about playing with Sonic out here, and now he can't find him."

"Never mind that. Just bring him back here."

Shadow cut off the link at that point, while Tachyon and Tails exchanged glances. "I suppose we'd better do as he says," the falcon suggested, before heading back in the direction of camp. Tails followed him, still worried. Tachyon really did wish that his master hadn't sounded so agitated; it wasn't helping his credibility.

He couldn't very well try to talk to the Cocytan - not without Tails getting even more suspicious, anyway - but he wished that the alien wouldn't try to harm or capture the fox. And he kept on wishing it, as if he could make the Cocytan hear it through thought alone; probably could, at that. Was there anything those nanites couldn't do?

***

"What happened HERE?" If Tails hadn't been worried before, he certainly was then. The base camp was eerily silent, and absolutely no one was present minus himself and Tachyon. The falcon wondered if the other Cocytans had already gone back to their ship, or if they were silently watching. Hopefully the former.

"I don't know." And Tachyon certainly didn't. The aliens' technology and psychology were both equally incomprehensible.

But, it wasn't important. Everything on Mobius rightfully belonged to Shadow, including the scientists. Including Tachyon. The cat could do with them as he pleased, and if he wanted to give some of his possessions away to the Cocytans, what did it matter?

Tachyon assumed a more rigid posture. He may have made his mistakes, but right now he was doing his duty, carrying out his instructions obediently. Tails may have been interesting, but the real measure of his importance was how useful he was to Shadow. And, perhaps, if the cat found him useful he would be spared.

The falcon looked down on Tails, as they walked - he seemed unaware of this sudden attention - and began to experience revulsion. Not at the fox, but at the weakness that had been brought out in himself as a result of their association. What was it that prompted him to teach the child, to play with him, even to want to protect him? Pathetic sentiment, with a touch of instinct. But, it could very well be useful, just as long as it furthered Shadow's goals.

He remembered the beginnings of his own training. How squeamish he'd been back then, and how that weakness had continued for years and years. But, he had been several years older than Tails at the time. Why, if Shadow did in fact take a liking to the child, then perhaps he could do even better with it than with him! The fox could be raised in such a way that his weakness would be negated, and he would never have the squeamishness and sentimental qualms that kept plaguing Tachyon-

Tails gasped, and his mouth remained open. Tachyon looked up from his thoughts to see the child staring at the corpse of a female squirrel, several yards off, laying in a patch of heavily-stained snow. Her lifeless face was contorted with pain, and her hands clutched at her (mostly) unseen abdomen.

"Oh, goodness..." This time the revulsion was physical, as well. Something told him that the six-year-old shouldn't see that, that it was a terrible thing to confront him with death at such a young age. Tachyon quickly put his wing up in between Tails and the body, but the fox was already crying; probably trying to keep from throwing up, too.

Tachyon sighed. Whatever had happened to the days when he would go for years on end living an alternate identity among petty, normal Mobians, and every now and then kill one at Shadow's request? Now here he was, shielding a six-year-old from the realities that he'd known almost all of his life, and he couldn't even come up with a compelling reason why he was doing so. It just felt like he should.

And he hated it. He hated his weakness, and he hated himself, and he wished that he could just be obedient like he was supposed to.

"Ohh..." The child was definitely struggling with nausea. Tachyon kept his wing in place, and waited for him to speak again.

"You really are as bad as Sonic said, aren't you? You and Shadow did all this, and now you're gonna kill me, too." Well, there went all those carefully thought-out lies.

Tachyon shook his head quickly. "No. I said I wouldn't hurt you, and I meant it. Shadow just wants to talk to you."

Tails nodded solemnly, tears still visible in his eyes, and got up. They continued walking; if Tachyon was right about what Shadow had been planning to do, the cat would probably be in the crashed spacecraft. Tachyon noted that the fox still didn't try to escape; it wouldn't do any good.

He sincerely hoped that Shadow did, after all, merely want to speak with Tails. Or adopt him, or play checkers with him, or anything, just as long as he was alright. If Tachyon were forced to watch him die, he didn't know what he would do.

Part Eight

----------

Sonic could be very easily distracted, the Second mused. For a few minutes they'd walked, the Mobian talking incomprehensibly all the way, babbling on about his speed and capabilities. The Second had suggested that Sonic's opinion of himself might be a tad inflated...

And then the hedgehog had insisted on a demonstration, right then and there. He ran circles around the Second, spindashed effortlessly through thick (and quite dead) bushes, and in general performed a series of stunts, insisting that the Cocytan "watch this!" all the while.

And he did. The display was entertaining enough for most, but his resonance nodules were also able to "see" Sonic's energy field. It looked as if he were a comet, trailing sparks behind him as he ran. In the Second's opinion, it was a spectacle that ranked right up there with his race's trademark crystalline starships.

Not only that, the experience was also most educational. The alien seemed to be able to naturally manipulate his energy fields in a way that was very similar to the nanites' abilities, and the Second quickly had his nanites record all that they could.

***

Tachyon entered the darkness of the crashed spacecraft, Tails following timidly beside him. Normally the angular, grayish plastic walls were illuminated by a series of lights that the scientists had set up, but they were evidently inoperative; Tachyon's claws brushed against pieces of shattered glass on the floor. He reached into a pocket of his belt for a tiny flashlight, before continuing.

They both jumped at the sound of an electrical discharge of some sort, some distance in front of them, accompanied by a feline screech and a shower of sparks that was visible around a bend in the corridor. Tachyon tried to give Tails a reassuring look - wasn't quite sure how good a falcon's eyes were at that - and they walked a few more steps before Shadow stalked down the same bend in the corridor, the unpleasant smell of singed fur in the air. The cat looked to be quite angry at the outset, but he displayed a more cheerful expression as the two approached.

"Oh, good, there you are!" The brightness of his voice directly contradicted his unkempt appearance. He extended a hand to Tails, and the child shook it confusedly.

"Now, then, let's just get right down to business." Shadow's grip didn't seem to become any tighter, but it was clear that he didn't intend to let go. He extended his claws just barely, pricking Tails' hand through his glove, and the fox stiffened with fear.

Still smiling pleasantly, he continued to speak. "I may not be able to kill Sonic. I may not even be able to kill Sir Charles yet," and he briefly looked over his shoulder to the site of the previous disturbance, a mildly annoyed look on his face, "but at this point I can most certainly kill you."

He flexed the claws on his other hand, examining them nonchalantly. "Which is exactly what I will do, and without hesitation, unless you do as I say." He looked over to his aide for a moment, that same, pleasant smile returning. "Don't get me wrong, Tachyon, I love a good torture session, but I'm a little pressed for time right now. The kid's gonna have to die quickly if he doesn't co-operate."

Tachyon forced himself into a completely rigid position, eyes wide with worry and indecision. Tails actually pulled at Shadow's grasp, trying to free himself - he was braver than Tachyon gave him credit for, the falcon noted - but stopped abruptly, crying out in pain. Shadow's claws gleamed in the dim light, and Tachyon thought that he could see darker spots growing along Tails' glove, at the base of each claw.

"What do you want!," the child cried.

Shadow brought one hand to his chin, and seemed to contemplate this for a moment. "Well, for starters, it would be kinda nice to know where Sonic is."

"I don't know!"

"Too bad." His grip tightened, and Tachyon stiffened further. His tiny flashlight threatened to break under his own grasp.

"Ow!" Tears came to the fox's eyes, but he resisted calling out any further. Perhaps he didn't want to let Shadow see him cry? Evidently these reservations didn't apply to Tachyon.

"Oh, don't worry." Shadow's tone remained conversational; even cheerful. "You don't get to die yet; there's still lots of fun waiting. Actually, I had another idea in mind. How about letting you live?"

Tails gave him a confused look, which was interrupted by a brief sniffle.

"Didn't Sonic ever tell you? I used to rule Mobius." He smiled again. "I'm serious! The whole silly planet. Military bases in every major city, a couple of primary fortresses, entire armies of battle drones patrolling the streets..." A wistful look was evident on his face, for a moment or two. "And do you know how?"

"The... Chaos Emeralds?"

Shadow nodded. "Yup. I own them, every one. But, they seem to be outside my possession at the moment, seeing as how Sir Charles has six and the others are missing. How would you like to help me look for them?"

He just blinked, staring with wide eyes.

"That's right! Maybe I'll even let you play with one, every now and then. Remember that, Tachyon?"

The falcon nodded stiffly.

"Anyway." Shadow turned his attention back to the fox. "All you need to do is come live with me, after I've killed Sir Charles. Simple, no?"

Tachyon spoke up. "Ah... sir? Why are you doing this?"

Shadow smiled as he turned to address his aide. "Don't you have any idea what this is?"

What what is? "Erm... no."

The cat quickly let go of Tails' hand, and grabbed one of his tails in each hand, lifting him up off the ground. He cried out at this, and squirmed quite a bit before letting out a very brief scream; Tachyon wondered just how many times the poor child would be scratched before this was over. One way or the other.

Shadow held the tails apart from each other, evidently trying to draw Tachyon's attention to them. "Does the word _naharvos_ mean anything to you?"

"No."

"How about 'kitsune'?"

Tachyon shook his head. "It sounds Japanese."

Shadow nodded. "They're an ancient vulpine race with highly unique abilities, and more than one tail. When the human colonists heard of them, they named them after their primitive legends of capricious fox-spirits."

"Please let me go," Tails requested. He was ignored.

The feline continued. "I've sort of been wanting a pet kitsune, but, you see..." His smile was pleasant, but his eyes just barely hinted at malevolence. "Something very unpleasant happened to them, a few years before the human landing."

"Oh?," Tachyon queried, trying to keep his anxiety out of his voice.

"Something very DARK and unpleasant."

"Ah..."

Shadow nodded. "Anyway. As I was saying, it's very nice to see that you weren't captured by the Cocytans, Tails, because-"

There was a noise behind Tachyon, and he swiveled around immediately. His flashlight illuminated Sonic's form; the hedgehog seemed quite livid, fists clenched tightly.

The cat sighed. "Darn it."

Part Nine

----------

"Hold this." And before Tachyon could think, Shadow actually tossed his would-be pet on top of him. They both tumbled to the floor; the falcon was surprised that none of his avian bones were broken in the process.

In that second there was a variety of noises. Tachyon crying out in surprise as Tails impacted with him; Tails doing the same; the sound of one of Sonic's spindashes, shortly followed by an electrical discharge of some sort. The bird righted himself, and looked around: Sonic was on the floor, looking quite dazed, and Shadow was in a fighting stance. Claws up and ready, willpower and enthusiasm so strong that his energy barrier was actually visible around him. It looked sort of like a soap bubble, Tachyon thought, before it faded.

He was dazed. What was going on? Where was the Cocytan? Probably staying invisible and recording things, the little-

"Tachyon!" Shadow called out, but didn't look over to him, didn't break his stance. "Grab the stupid fox, already!" He sounded much angrier than usual, and his tone was commanding. Probably didn't want to let his chance at dissecting Sonic slip away again.

Tachyon looked over to "the stupid fox"; there was a frenzied, feline scream to his side, as Shadow left his peripheral vision. The sounds of scuffling behind him, of energized claws tearing through the air audibly - and rapidly. The narrow corridor was lit up by the glow of those claws, and he saw the terrified look on Tails' face. The child had gotten back to his feet and was staring at the conflict, not even noticing him.

What to do, what to do... that strange voice was back, yelling at him so loudly that he could barely distinguish individual words. But he would never disobey Shadow! Ever!

Ninety years of training and discipline just barely overwhelmed his conscience, and so he stepped forward quickly and grabbed Tails by the arm, yanking it hard and throwing him to the floor. Pinning him there, and positioning the lower claws of his right foot around the fox's neck.

"Tachyon!..." Tails cried in surprise and disbelief, but Tachyon ignored it, desperately trying to suppress sentiment with instinct, pleading with his subconscious to co-operate. He wouldn't fail again!

He looked over to where Sonic and Shadow were continuing to battle. It was surprising that the thirteen-year-old was lasting so long against his master. The occasional spindash was deflected by Shadow's shield; the cat was definitely weakening, but refused to yield. There was an insane fury in his eyes, a kind that the falcon couldn't remember seeing since the battle, long ago, in which that human starship fractured the eighth emerald.

Shadow would leap at the hedgehog, claws slashing through thin air, and occasionally _clink_-ing against the Cocytan plastics of the floor and walls. And Sonic would run away, even quicker. The display was captivating. Wasn't there something he was supposed to do? Kill Tails? The thought filled him with revulsion, but if he had to, he would.

No! Shadow wanted the... what was the word? "Kitsune", alive. And at the moment it was quite alive, albeit laying on the floor, head tilted to the side. The claws pressed to his neck twitched a little, and he spoke, assuming the worst about Tachyon's intentions. "Tachyon, please don't... you promised you wouldn't..."

The falcon tried hard not to let such weak thoughts enter his mind. A sudden idea came to him, and he spoke over the child.

"Sonic?" He tried again, speaking more loudly, and he remembered his anger at the hedgehog. "Hey! Moronic! Listen to me, stupid mammal!"

The "stupid mammal" actually turned to look for a moment, still keeping a safe distance between himself and Shadow, who was also watching. Tachyon shone his flashlight on Tails, and especially the claws at the child's neck. "Surrender, or he dies."

Sonic's response was instantaneous. His eyes filled with rage, and he ran straight for Tachyon at his trademark speeds, curling into a ball as he went and colliding with him.

Epilogue - A month later

-------------------------

As I recall, it actually wasn't all that painful. It happened faster than I could even think... one second he was standing there, and the next there was this hard impact and I was sprawled out on the floor. Leaning on the gradually-curving wall, I think. I remember that it was quiet after that, and quite dark. My flashlight was broken. I checked to make sure that my bones weren't in the same state; no such luck. Several ribs seemed to be cracked. An unpleasant reminder that my avian skeleton was designed for flight, not resisting damage. It occurred to me that I probably should have come up with a better plan.

It hurt whenever I tried to move, so I just sat there. Didn't really know where to go, anyway. I could hear several people breathing in the background, and Shadow called out to me. Was I alright? Yes, I responded. I'd been injured worse before, after all, but I still didn't move.

Then there was the most horrible moaning. It sounded like Sonic was even worse off than I was. What had happened?

"Oh, wonderful," Shadow complained. "Just about broke my arm off trying to get him, and he's still alive." Yes... I remembered, then. Shadow had swiped at the hedgehog as he ran to me, before he'd curled into a spiny ball. I was glad that I couldn't see the results.

Shadow sighed. "I suppose I'll just have to finish the job, then." Tails started wailing at this, and it was even worse than Sonic's moaning. It felt horrible to think that I'd contributed to the child's suffering, now that the instinct (and wind) had been knocked out of me.

Now, I couldn't actually see what was going on, but I could still hear things. I think Shadow started walking towards Sonic, just about tripped over Tails and ended up smacking him out of the way. Hard. I didn't hear anything from him, after that.

Then Shadow kept walking... and stopped. A couple seconds passed, and I only heard Sonic moaning, and then Shadow used a word that I'd never heard him say before. I was pretty surprised! At least he said it very quietly, under his breath.

He kept talking. "No, I promised the Cocytans they could have him." His voice was shaking, the way it does when he's particularly upset about something- No, more than that. I'd never known anything to actually drive him to profanity. And I thought I hated the hedgehog...

He called out, in the darkness. "I know you're listening! Come and get him, for crying out loud." And then there was a bright light, or at least it seemed that way after my eyes had gotten used to the darkness. The Cocytan appeared; he was probably using those nanites to illuminate the area. It looked like he was holding a tiny patch of golden fireflies, dancing on his palm. Really quite beautiful.

But I didn't get to look at it for very long, because right then another Cocytan just walked in, from the direction of the entrance. This one had snowy-white fur, and gigantic claws instead of fingers. Shorter, too, and its fur looked messier. Maybe it was watching us all that time, as well... but I don't think so. Probably it just arrived, instead.

At any rate, I never really got to find out what it wanted. It said something in its incomprehensible language; the other Cocytan responded. But this only went on for a few seconds. The white one had probably been watching Sonic very closely, because it did something I'd never seen anyone but the hedgehog do.

It rapidly curled into a ball, and spindashed the taller Cocytan. Spindashed him! Was there no end to their abilities? Or those of their nanites? If you've never seen a nine-foot griffin do that, please rest assured that it is a terrifying sight, especially when you're much smaller than they are. I tried to ignore the pain in my ribs, and crawled backwards along the wall to get away; stopped when I bumped into Tails' unconscious form.

The other one got up, and they grappled for a few moments. At one point he forced the white one down to the floor, and they were rolling around there, clawing at each other and making the most horrible noises. Loud, alien noises, with a sort of birdlike quality to them. I realized that there wasn't really anything I could do, that they could very well flatten me, completely by accident, at any time. I hoped that I was at a reasonably safe distance, and just kept watching them.

At one point Shadow leaped into the fray, claws energized. They probably had their own shields; it looked sort of like a transparent dodecahedron appeared around the both of them. Shadow cut and slashed at it, and it wavered a little, but then one of the Cocytans reached out and whacked him across the hallway like he was an oversized plush toy. I winced, and hoped that he was alright.

Then, the brown one grabbed something from out of thin air - at least, that's what it looked like - and slammed it down onto the white one. They both disappeared with a whoosh-ing noise, and it was completely dark again.

Almost completely silent at that. Sonic had stopped moaning; whether he was unconscious or dead, I didn't know. Tails had been knocked out, Shadow had been knocked out, the Cocytans were gone and I was too injured to move. All I could hear was the sound of steady, unconscious breathing, and it reminded me of how tired I was.

The plastic walls were cold, but I didn't really care. I just lay back, and allowed myself to relax. Wanted to curl up, like in my nest, but didn't want to disturb my injuries. Eventually, I fell asleep.

I woke up several times. At one point I thought I saw Sir Charles standing over me, shining a flashlight all around. He didn't even notice me... well, actually, he probably did, but was more concerned with Sonic. I think he was talking, but I was becoming very incoherent and couldn't make out any of his words. I just closed my eyes again.

The next time I woke up, I was in a hospital. At least, that's what I've decided by now. At the time, I was REALLY incoherent, even though I was wide awake. Some people were trying to bandage my ribs, and everyone was talking all around me, but I couldn't understand any of them. I was trying to get away, and my chest really hurt, and they were trying to do something to it... I consciously knew that it only hurt because I was struggling, that they were trying to help me, but it was as if my higher reasoning was out to lunch.

I remember screaming at them without forming any words. Kicking and clawing frantically; my lower claws probably connected once or twice. Thrashing around on the bed, falling off and hurting even more. I think they put me under sedation at that point, and I don't blame them. Later they put me in a huge, enclosed arboretum.

Everything after that up until just a few days ago is somewhat blurry. If my higher reasoning was out to lunch before, it was completely gone then. All that I experienced was simple emotion, and instinct. I wanted to fly, so I did. It felt good to bathe, to duck my head under the surface of the (artificial) creek and shake my feathers dry afterwards, so I did it, too. I would get hungry, and so I would look for prey. Dangerous creatures - the people who ran the arboretum - would enter, and I would keep my distance, but they would leave meat behind them when they left. I would eat, using only my beak and lower claws. I wanted to hunt, quite often, but there wasn't any prey available; I tried to attack the "creatures" once or twice, but they were able to fight me off, and I had no idea how. Apparently, they were using tazer sticks.

I was told later that I'd relapsed, as it's called. And I mean all the way; completely nonsentient. I relapsed physically, as well, which was a scientific rarity. My wingtips ceased to be dextrous, and my vocal chords refused to work properly. In essence I was just a really big, and equally unintelligent, bird of prey. Good thing it all went back to normal afterwards, though I spent almost a month that way. I know some people keep trying to say that it's natural, it's better, that there's some spiritual quality to it... don't listen to them. It was the most bizarre experience of my life, and I don't ever want to go through it again. I wasn't particularly unhappy, most of the time, but that was just because I was too dumb to know any better.

Well, scratch that. Actually, I was pretty unhappy a good deal of the time, at least at the beginning. For quite a while, at that, though it got better towards the middle. It was as if there was something I desperately wanted, but I couldn't get it no matter how hard I tried. I would fly around aimlessly, even land and dig in the ground for an hour at a time, but nothing would satisfy me.

Some biologists managed to get a blood sample, and they told me that... well, it's pretty complicated. Something about how there were all these really tiny microorganisms inside my cells, and they had somehow become fully integrated into my cellular machinery. Then they started dying off, and I experienced withdrawal as my systems tried to adapt to their absence. This probably had something to do with my relapsing, and I'm sure those things were the Cocytan nanites. Good thing the Cocytans are gone; good riddance, too.

Anyway. I got better just a few days ago. I can remember just standing there on a branch, and slowly, gradually realizing what was going on. It was sort of like waking up, and taking my time about it.

When the people who managed the place next came in, I told them that I was alright and asked to be let out. At least, I tried. It seemed that my vocal chords hadn't quite caught up to my mind yet. Fortunately, they got the message nonetheless. Unfortunately, they insisted on spending the next few minutes studying my recovery in detail. Seems that they don't usually get the opportunity to do so. A scientific rarity, like I said.

Nothing like knowing that you were an animal for the past few weeks to make you extremely self-conscious. It was... odd, to watch my wingtips forming right in front of me; awkward, to have them watching and taking notes at the same time. But, it didn't take very long, and afterwards I was given a few days to recuperate from the whole mess of the past month.

It seems that everyone else ended up hospitalized or otherwise out of commission, as well, though they all recovered before I did. Sonic had the most horrible injuries, which I won't elaborate on here. Tails and Shadow both had concussions, and Shadow had a few broken bones as well. Robotnik actually got into a car accident while I was out looking for Sonic; he was mostly alright, but had to be treated for hypothermia. I think Sir Charles was the only one who actually got off scot-free, though if Shadow had gotten his way I don't think that would have been the case. Apparently the silly hedgehog locked himself in the crashed ship, and turned on some of its security systems to protect himself. Probably better that way, in the end, because he was the one who called for help.

I'm glad that our media isn't quite as "advanced" as that of the humans. None of us were on the news for very long, and Shadow managed to keep anyone from getting suspicious, as usual. The crashed starship has been taken to a secured facility far from Mobotropolis, for study.

So far I've spent most of my time in my room. One or two of the other scientists stopped by to wish me well; fortunately, these visits didn't last long. May I never understand their compulsion to socialize.

Just yesterday Shadow was able to make it, to check up on me. He's mostly been busy with some recent project of his, presumably using whatever technology the Cocytans gave him for helping them. I believe he's been working with Robotnik, at some base they have set up somewhere. He says I'll be going to help them, later, but won't say any more about it. I think they've both been too busy to worry about Slasher's disappearance all that much... probably got pretty upset, earlier, but I wasn't around to see it. Fortunately.

So, I've mostly been writing and drawing in this journal, as usual. I could probably do some flying too, if I felt like it, but after all that time in the arboretum I really prefer to remain in a more obviously civilized setting. Not to mention that I hate being the center of attention, and believe me, when you're the one of the only flying Mobians around, any time you decide to do so you're automatically the center of attention.

Tails absolutely refuses to speak with me anymore, and seems to be trying to stay as far away from me as possible. I don't blame him. I've decided that I hate myself, but I still can't make up my mind as to whether this is because I broke my promise to him or because I failed Shadow again.

Anyway. I've been trying to draw a Cocytan, before I forget what they looked like - for all the grief they caused me, they're still quite handsome creatures. Not sure that I'm doing justice to their wings, though.

I've also been trying to draw Slasher. Just seems appropriate, somehow.

--- The end of the second book ---


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